From left, Brianna Sanchez, 15, Elizabeth Sledge, 16, and Marianna Martino, 16, sing music from ìLes Misérablesî during a Greenwich High School chorus practice in the auditorium at school in Greenwich, Conn., Tuesday, April 2, 2013.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

Longtime supporters of the new Greenwich High School auditorium are wary of plans to cut from the project to make up for bids that came in several million dollars over budget.

In order to fit in to the $37 spending plan for the music instruction space and auditorium project, known as MISA, the Board of Education will consider changes that include taking away the orchestra pit and second balcony from the auditorium, and redesigning the school's existing auditorium to house the music classrooms, instead of demolishing it and building a new structure.

The bids for construction came in recently at $6 million over projections. At the same time, the town is looking at spending millions of dollars to clean up soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls from the high school fields.

The school board will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the project.

Patricia Cirigliano, musical director for the high school's theater department, said the orchestra pit is an integral part of the program, and would enhance the ability to put on a high-quality show.

"For the actors on a stage, singing even with amplification, it's much easier to hear the singers," Cirigliano said. Without the pit, "the kids will still have to sing over the orchestra."

Also, she explained, when the musicians are on the same level as the audience, the people in the first few rows are distracted by the conductor and the lights.

Since a major reason for building the new auditorium is to improve sound quality, Cirigliano said getting rid of the orchestra pit would defeat some of the purpose.

"Without that, we're not getting much improvement for the renovation," Cirigliano said.

GHS Band Director John Yoon is concerned that renovating the current auditorium -- which has poor acoustics, with sound not traveling properly and students struggling to sing over the HVAC system -- would not produce sufficient practice areas. He said that since the sloped floor would have to be leveled off, the ceiling would not be high enough.

"If they're going to use the existing auditorium, the ceiling has to be 19 to 20 feet, tops," Yoon said. "We produce a huge amount of sound. That has to be displaced. By using the existing auditorium space, we're throwing that out the window. We're going to spend the money and we're not going to do it right. Again."

MISA supporters worry that the district will cut corners on the auditorium, repeating the mistake made when the high school was built in the 1960s and came in about 50 percent higher than the Board of Estimate and Taxation's $8 million allowance for the project.

Jeffrey Spector, coordinator of music, arts and theater arts for the school district, and also a member of the MISA Building Committee, said he is keeping an open mind as the architects develop proposals for the renovation of the existing auditorium.

"We spent many, many years putting together the present plan, so we're concerned," Spector said. "If we can do something to make it work, it would be a win-win."

Some students said they can live with a few changes.

GHS junior Erika Prey, who has run the lights for more than a dozen shows at the school, said some cuts to the project, such as taking out the second balcony, are reasonable. Prey said that the orchestra pit was still important for the various performances the school puts on, including musicals and concerts.

"Some options should be considered for saving money in making the new auditorium, but the new auditorium still has to be worth it," Prey said. "If they leave out too much, people will ask for changes again much sooner."

GHS football player Michelangelo Federici, who is not involved in any music groups or theater productions, said he thinks a scaled-back plan would be more fiscally responsible and enable students and faculty to put ongoing disruptions in the past.

"After the soil contamination debacle, Greenwich High wants to get back to `normal,' " said Federici, a senior. "If this means not including an orchestra pit or second balcony, I'm all for it."

But Christina Downey, co-president of the GHS Band Parents Association, agrees with Yoon that the school board should think about the impact the cuts will have. When the band travels to Western Regional competitions at other schools in Connecticut, it's clear that the MISA project is bringing Greenwich's high school auditorium up to minimum standards, she said.

"The need is still there," said Downey, whose daughter, a junior, is currently in the band. "It's just a question of figuring out whether we say we're biting the bullet and need the extra money and the town can palate that. ... My concern is we're going to cheap out again."

Colette Rogers, who has long been a MISA supporter, said she thinks the case for the project and all its components has been made.

"I wish they would be a little more creative and find a way to fund it as it was originally proposed and voted for," said Rogers, whose children are out of the high school. "We have these savvy financial minds in town. They should be able to get this to work."

Wednesday's meeting will be held in the Havemeyer Building, 290 Greenwich Ave.